{"id":5512,"date":"2025-07-28T09:21:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T09:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5512"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:06:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:06:19","slug":"a-remarkable-day-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/07\/28\/a-remarkable-day-out\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018Remarkable\u2019 day out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Saturday 14 June CAMRA\u2019s London Pubs Group visited some pubs operated by the Remarkable Pubs company.\u00a0 We started at midday at the European<\/a><\/strong> in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton.\u00a0Until they closed and sold it in 2022, this was a Wetherspoon\u2019s pub called the Drum.\u00a0 It was subsequently acquired by the Laine Pub Company who operated it as the Spark House before it closed again in October 2023. \u00a0It was then acquired by Remarkable and refurbished in their signature Victorian style, reopening on 27 February 2025.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Inside the European.\u00a0 Note the wall map.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pub now has a fine modern bar-back and bar counter and church pew style seating.  The usual large map of the world is there, along with the light cream walls, but the boxed taxidermy is absent.  The split-level floor approach to the bar counter has been retained, perhaps surprisingly, while stairs lead to a first floor open terrace seating area.  Some say that the pub\u2019s new name is a nod to Tim Martin\u2019s views on Brexit.  Adnams Ghost Ship, Five Points Best and Shepheard Neame Master Brew were available here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our tour took place just two days after the William the Fourth<\/a><\/strong> in Leyton High Road was reopened by Walthamstow\u2019s Exale Brewery.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t on our original itinerary but many in the party diverted to take a look. \u00a0This is an imposing street corner pub dating from 1897.\u00a0 It was designed by the famous pub architects Shoebridge & Rising for the Cannon Brewery of Clerkenwell and ultimately liveried as \u2018Ind Coope\u2019 by Allied prior to the 1989 Beer Orders. \u00a0The interior has now been decorated in a combination of contemporary and traditional style, including chesterfield banquettes, bare wood flooring, duck egg blue walls and a red ceiling and red velour-topped high stools. \u00a0Pleasingly, the bespoke \u2018WIIIIR\u2019 mirror lettered in 1970s Allied Brewery typeface remains. \u00a0Real ales on offer were Adnams Broadside and Exale WTF pale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A choice of buses 69 or 97 led us to the Leyton Engineer<\/a> <\/strong>in High Road Leyton. \u00a0This is a Grade II-listed building contained within part of the former Leyton Town Hall, built 1895. \u00a0The initials of the former occupants, Leyton Borough Council, are visible on the rubber door mat as you enter the pub and there is a very fine terrazzo and mosaic floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leyton Engineer interior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pub was formerly operated by Antic Pub Collective as the Leyton Technical and furnished in their trademark \u2018shabby chic\u2019 style. \u00a0Following its acquisition by Remarkable, it was redecorated to the expected high quality. \u00a0The trademark cream walls, stuffed birds, world map and statuary, plus a new but traditional wooden bar-back are all present, along with a \u2018Red Room\u2019, which is a feature in many Remarkable pubs. \u00a0The largest bar contains the Harry Beck Booth, named after the original designer of the London Underground map, whose work features on the walls and who was born in Leyton. \u00a0This pub is in CAMRA\u2019s Good Beer Guide<\/em> 2025 and offers a CAMRA discount. \u00a0On our visit, the Engineer was serving Five Points Brickfield Brown and Shepherd Neame Master Brew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, bus route 58 took participants to the Holly Tree<\/a><\/strong> in Dames Road, Forest Gate, on the edge of Wanstead Flats. \u00a0This was included on the tour because it had also been magnificently refurbished and was shortlisted for the 2021 CAMRA Pub Design Awards. \u00a0Note the tell-tale green and gold stained-glass former Charrington windows. \u00a0Once again, there is a large world wall map and a separate Red Room. \u00a0The novelty factor here is the miniature railway in the pub garden, which was operating for the first time this year on the day we visited. \u00a0This pub is also in CAMRA\u2019s Good Beer Guide<\/em> 2025 and offers a CAMRA discount. \u00a0The real ale selection was Five Points Pale, Pentrich Vivid Waves pale ale, Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Whitstable Bay pale ale.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Finally, it was back on the 58 for a rather tortuous journey via the busy Green Street to the Boleyn Tavern<\/a><\/strong> in Barking Road, Upton Park. \u00a0The pub is Grade II listed and also rates three stars on CAMRA\u2019s national inventory of pub interiors of outstanding historic importance. \u00a0This is one of the more spectacular late-Victorian pubs around and is a prominent landmark at a crossroads right by the former West Ham football ground. \u00a0It is a thoroughly exuberant piece of French-style Renaissance architecture dating from 1899-1900 and, as with the William the Fourth, was built for the Cannon Brewery by Shoebridge & Rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reopened in June 2021 after a spectacular \u00a31.5 million restoration.\u00a0 Remarkable\u2019s aim was to make the interior look just as it did when the pub first opened.\u00a0 \u00a0New hand-crafted wooden screens have been created, complete with acid-etched and brilliant-cut glass, which have enabled the pub\u2019s original seven-bar layout to be restored. \u00a0The highlight however is the truly spectacular glazed skylight that spans what would once have been the billiards room but is now a \u2018Red Room\u2019 with an open kitchen, servery and dining area.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Other quality fittings include the Victorian bar counters and bar backs, although some are modern replacements. \u00a0The big arch straddling the servery on the east side is original, as are the tiled lobby on the east side, the cast-iron columns and a good deal of the etched glass. \u00a0The pub\u2019s former links to West Ham United are acknowledged by memorabilia displayed in a corridor and by portraits of famous players depicted in the dining room booths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legend has it that Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and Queen of England 1533 to 1536, visited, or possibly owned, the nearby Green Street House, which later became known as Boleyn Castle.  Another story is that Mahatma Gandhi visited the pub in 1931, when he apparently enjoyed a cream soda.  This pub is also in CAMRA\u2019s Good Beer Guide<\/em> 2025 and gives a CAMRA discount.  The real ale selection was Oakham Original Pale Ale, Northern Monk Session IPA and Shepherd Neame Master Brew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jane Jephcote and Kim Rennie<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Saturday 14 June CAMRA\u2019s London Pubs Group visited some pubs operated by the Remarkable Pubs company.\u00a0 We started at midday at the European in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton.\u00a0Until they… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pub-crawl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5518,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512\/revisions\/5518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}